Kintaro
Kintaro is a character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He made his debut in Mortal Kombat II as the game's sub-boss and became playable in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. In Mortal Kombat (2011) Kintaro returns as a sub-boss for the game. In Mortal Kombat X, Kintaro returns as a DLC character. About Kintaro Kintaro replaced Goro after Goro was defeated by Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat. He is the only member of his race seen thus far to have unique features. Unlike Goro and Sheeva, Kintaro has tiger striped markings all over his body as well as sharp fangs, claws and feline-like feet. According to his Mortal Kombat (2011) bio, this is indicative of the lower-class Tigrar clan of Shokan, differing from the more elite-class Draco clan that Goro and Sheeva belong to, so there are likely more of his kind out there. It should be noted that in each new game, his feline features stand out more than the last. Character development Kintaro was originally going to be a playable character (a tall anthropomorphic tiger with two arms). While his size would not be a problem (all the playable characters were digitally resized to be the same height), the impending difficulty of creating an extensively detailed fur-lined costume, however, led to Midway's revamping of the character into the game's four-armed boss in the same way as Goro. Kintaro's appearance since Mortal Kombat II has shifted, with Kintaro growing closer to the initial tiger appearance drawn by Midway; he is distinguished from other Shokan by having true feline features (actual fur, digitigrade feet, fangs and a distinctly feline nose). His unique features, which differentiate him from other Shokan, are explained by the fact that he descends from a rare and ancient family lineage, known for its brutality. For Armageddon, Kintaro's tiger appearance was played to the hilt, including his weapons: his Saber Teeth resemble (in both looks and name) the oversized fangs of the smilodon, or "sabertoothed tiger", and both it and his other concept weapon design (a set of circular gauntlet-mounted blades known as the "Tiger Claws") have a distinct tiger's eye jewel embedded in their center. In fact, one of the concept renders of his weapon actually makes a reference to the Survivor song Eye of the Tiger when noting the jewel, encouraging players to "blast it loud and hard" while playing. In MKX, Kintaro's knee guards are much larger, he dons handcuffs on his lower arms and a chain around his neck. He also dons elbows guards and longer shoulder guards in his revenant costume and head guard armor. * Tiger Fury: Harness glows orange-red. * Saber Teeth: Saber Teeth attached to elbow guards and handcuffs. * Prince of Pain: Crown on his head. Game information For a long time after his introduction, he was seen as one of the hardest bosses in all of the Mortal Kombat series. This was because he was able to grab someone in mid-attack and throw him or her to the ground, usually followed by a teleport-stomp. He also shot up to three fireballs at a time. The extreme difficulty in defeating him was enough to provoke a comment from Video Games magazine, in their 1993 review of the home versions of MKII, that Kintaro was "the hardest fighting game boss ever...He doesn't just beat you; he kicks your ass." Shang Tsung had a Fatality in Mortal Kombat II where he morphed into Kintaro and punched the opponent's upper-body clean across the screen. This has been noted as the hardest Fatality to pull off in Mortal Kombat as it requires you to win your final round while holding low punch through the entire fight, then releasing it two seconds after the end of the round. This is the only time Kintaro was featured in a finisher in the Mortal Kombat series prior to Shaolin Monks. This exact same Fatality can be seen if the player is defeated enough times while battling against Kintaro. When a player is defeated by Kintaro in Kahn's Arena, after Shao Kahn says "Kintaro Wins", the crowd cheers. Powers and abilities Like any other Shokan, Kintaro boasts brute strength, stamina and prowess. Unlike his brethren, Kintaro hails from a subspecies specializing in savagery. Combined with savage style of kombat and mercilessness makes him one of the most lethal kombatants on the battleground. Other than that, he shares similar powers to Goro, but is considerably more nimble. * Tiger Fury: Enhanced fire-based special moves. * Saber Teeth: Gains combos and special moves utilizing the Saber Teeth. * Prince of Pain: Gains Corkscrew Uppercut, Painful Uppercut and Ground Smash. Locks all moves containing fire. Signature moves *'Fireball / Fiery Hands:' Kintaro shoots a flaming fireball out of his mouth. (MKII, MKT, MK:SM, MK:A, MK 2011, MKX - Tiger Fury) **'Multi-Fireball': Kintaro shoots two fireballs out of his mouth at the same time. (MKX - Tiger Fury) *'Ground Fireball:' Kintaro shoots a fireball directly to the ground. In MKX, the fireball bounces the opponent. (MK 2011, MKX - Tiger Fury) **'Double Ground Fireball': Kintaro shoots two fireballs directly to the ground, one near to him and at the opponent's position. (MKX - Tiger Fury) *'Flame Breath: '''Kintaro breathes a short stream of fire from his mouth. (''MK 2011, MKX - Tiger Fury) **'Tiger's Breath': Kintaro breathes a longer stream of fire from his mouth, has armor. (MKX - Tiger Fury) **'Low Flame Breath': Kintaro breathes a short stream of fire from his mouth on the ground. (MKX - Tiger Fury) ** High Flame Breath: Kintaro breathes a short stream of fire from his mouth in the air. (MKX - Tiger Fury) *'Rapid Fireball:' Kintaro shoots multiple red fireballs from his mouth in succession. In MKX, it is the enhanced version of the Fireball move. (MKII, MKT, MK:SM, MKX - Tiger Fury) *'Teleport Stomp:' Kintaro jumps off screen and comes crashing down with all his weight. (MKII, MKT, MK:SM, MK 2011, MKX) **'Teleport Smash': Kintaro stomps on the opponent multiple times, adds armor and increased damage. (MKX) *'Grab and Pound:' Grabbing his opponent with his lower arms, Kintaro pounds them with his upper arms, shaving off a good portion of his opponent's life. This move was part of his throw in MKX. (MK:SM, MK:A) *'Shokan Roar:' Kintaro roars, making him vulnerable (or healing in Armageddon). In Shaolin Monks, he does this move before a teleport stomp, and he is vulnerable to attacks when he roars. In MK 2011, he roars if his teleport stomp misses and even after his X-Ray. It's simply called Roar in MKX and it stuns opponents when they are close. (MKII, MKT, MK:SM, MK:A, MK 2011, MKX) *'Four-Armed Grab:' Kintaro grabs his opponent with all four arms and smashes him overhead. He can also grab his opponent while in mid-air. This move was part of his throw in MKX. (MKII, MKT, MK:A, MK 2011) *'Breath:' Kintaro inhales deeply, dragging the opponent in and, if they are caught, he will do Four-Armed Grab and smash their overhead. (MK:A) * Anti-Air Grab: 'Kintaro grabs the opponent while airborne, flips them over and breaks their back over his knee. ''(MK 2011) * '''Saber Stance: Kintaro gets into a defensive stance with his Saber Teeth, unlocking new moves. Kintaro can't move or use any moves during this stance. (MKX - Saber Teeth) ** Saber Slash: Kintaro spins his arms (with Saber Teeth attached to each one) in different directions while moving forward. (MKX ''- Saber Teeth'') ** Abdomen Slash: Kintaro slashes the opponent's midsection once. (MKX - Saber Teeth) ** Toothache: Kintaro grabs, then stabs the opponent's gum jaw once before tossing them away. (MKX - Saber Teeth) *** * Corkscrew Uppercut: Kintaro spins like a corkscrew two times before performing a leaping uppercutting, similar to one of Jin Kazama from the Tekken series' moves. (MKX - Prince of Pain) ** Powerful Corkscrew: Increased damage. (MKX - Prince of Pain) * Painful Uppercut: Kintaro grabs the opponent by the head and uppercuts them, launching them to the air and fall down back to the ground, snapping their neck. (MKX - Prince of Pain) ** Powerful Uppercut: Adds armor and increased damage. (MKX - Prince of Pain) * Ground Smash: Kintaro smashes the ground with a powerful axe-handle punch, damaging ground altitude opponents. If the opponent is near to the attack, they'll be smashed the to the ground. (MKX - Prince of Pain) ** Quake Smash: Adds armor and increased damage. (MKX - Prince of Pain) *'X-Ray Move - Shokan Smash: '''Kintaro punches the opponent in the chest with his lower arms, breaking their ribs. He then punches the opponent on both sides of their head, crushing their skull. He picks them up by their face and punches them in the side of the head, shattering their jaw and further damaging the skull. (''MK 2011) *'X-Ray Move - Less Ugly': Kintaro punches the opponent to stun them. He then follows up with a punch to their rib-cage, shattering it and launching them upwards. He leaps upwards, grabs their head and crushes it downwards, shattering it and dislocating the jaw. (MKX) Other moves *'Throw': Kintaro grabs the opponent with his four arms to punch them rapidly and then unleashes a powerful one to send the opponent rolling back. He can also stop the punch with a four armed throw. (MKX) *'Stomache': Kintaro grabs the opponent with one of his upper arms and rapidly punches them in the stomach with one of his lower arms until he crushes the stomach. (MKX - Prince of Pain) Fatalities *'Quad Rip:' Kintaro grabs his opponent with each of his arms. He then begins to pull outwards, eventually ripping the opponent into four pieces. (MK 2011) *'Reverse Rip': Kintaro turns the enemy around, grabs their arms and head. He rips off the arms and head, and breaks the head into two pieces. (MK 2011) *'Blood of Yarn': Kintaro grabs the opponent by the neck with one of his upper arms and breaks open their abdomen with one of his lower arms, causing multiple intestines and guts to spill out. Kintaro then smashes their face into the ground, crushing it. (MKX) *'Torn and Apart': Kintaro steps on the opponent, causing them to lay on the ground. Still stepping on them, Kintaro grabs their arms and effectively breaks them in half, even ripping off their arms. (MKX) Other finishers *'Babality:' Kintaro becomes a baby kitty with a bowl of milk in front of him, he crawls on all six to it and begins to meow and drink the milk, while purring away.﻿ (MK 2011) Appearances in other media Comic books Kintaro is portrayed as a minor character in the Malibu Comics Battlewave series. Unlike the games, in which he attempted to avenge Goro's death, the comics shows he's bitter towards the Prince of Pain (Goro's nickname in the comics) since he's always at his shadow, and longs for a confrontation with him. His only noteworthy participation in the comics is when he kidnaps Sonya Blade while she leads an investigation team into Shang Tsung's crumpled island. In the comics, Kintaro refers to himself as the Scourge of Outworld. Due to the anticipation for both he and Goro to face one on one (since both are impressive and legendary sub-bosses), Malibu Comics wrote as a response a special When Titans Klash mini-story at the end of issue four of the Battlewave series, in which Kintaro has his dream match against Goro. The short struggle (about two to three pages) ended with Goro victorious, and served to reconcile both Shokans in the comics' continuity. Trivia In General *At the time of MKII's release, Kintaro was considered one of the hardest bosses to beat due to his ability to Teleport Stomp and at the same time throws the player even when they are in mid-air. *Kintaro has been absent from MK3 to MK Deception, giving him the longest absent streak throughout the series of Mortal Kombat games. *The best way to easily beat Kintaro in MKII is to trap him in a corner with low punches. This trick works more easily in the home versions and will work best using characters like Scorpion or Sub-Zero. *Unlike most characters who have appeared in the first three Mortal Kombat games, Kintaro has barely made appearances in other media. He is portrayed as a minor character in the short-lived Malibu Comics "Battlewave" series, as well as the Mortal Kombat X (Comic Series). Due to those being his only appearances outside of the game series, he is the only character from the first three MK games to not appear in any movie or television adaptations of the series. *He is one of the few characters in Deception's Konquest mode who does not interact with Shujinko at all. *Like Motaro, Kintaro's name seems to have a connection to Japanese myth. It is a slight resemblance to Kintaro, a hero in Japanese folktale. However, also like Motaro, everything else about Kintaro has nothing to do with the tale. Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks *Kintaro's head can be used as a thrown weapon against Shao Kahn. Mortal Kombat Trilogy *His portrait in the character select screen is different from the one in MKII. Mortal Kombat: Deception *He is one of the characters seen trapped in a cage in the Dark Prison stage. *He can be found once in Earthrealm in a small forest looking around. It is impossible for Shujinko to speak with him, as trying to do so will make him disappear. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon *He appears to be taller as he was in MKII and has a build more similar to Goro's. *He is the first main character seen in the opening cinematic, at the head of the Forces of Darkness. *His Teleport Stomp move is not available here. *Unlike Goro his fighting style attacks are more powerful causing the enemy to be knocked down with a single hit. *He shares the same throw move with Goro - Grab and Pound, but he has his own Four Arm Grab move which is unblockable. Mortal Kombat (2011) *His first Fatalities debuted in this game. *In the March 2011 issue of Game Informer, it was featured an article on three expected DLC characters. One of the three was Kintaro listed as DLC, hinting the possibility that Kintaro was going to be a playable character in MK 2011. However, although Kintaro did appear in the game, he was an unplayable sub-boss and the DLC was never released for Kintaro. This feature may have been scrapped due to time constraints, or false information on Game Informer's part. References #↑ Motaro's Bio Card, Video Games Section, MK3. The Ultimate Guide To Mortal Kombat: CD-ROM Disc, Threshold Entertainment, 1995. #↑ Video proof of Kintaro's appearance in Deception. 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